Colorado high school boys basketball playoff breakdown

Video: Josh Walton's highlights vs. Cherokee Trail
See the Eaglecrest senior guard in action for the No. 1 seeded Raptors.

Let the push begin.
When the boys basketball postseason tips off Wednesday, the real work starts for teams around the state. The 48-team state tournaments for Class 5A and 4A are where dreams are both made and broken, and it takes less than three weeks for it all to come to a conclusion.
Last March it was the top two seeds in Class 5A that played for the state championship, with Overland topping Eaglecrest. The final two teams in 4A were two of the four No. 1 seeds, with Pueblo West rolling past Valor Christian.
This season the brackets were determined by RPI, and once again the Centennial League nabbed two of the top four seeds in 5A. Eaglecrest (Centennial) (19-4) secured the No. 1 overall seed, with Grandview (Aurora) (19-4) taking the No. 4 spot. Continental League champion ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch) (21-2) is the No. 2 seed, and George Washington (Denver) (21-1) – fresh off a 99-96 victory over Denver East last Saturday in a game that decided the Denver Prep League crown – is the No. 3 seed.
In 4A, Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) (19-4) earned the No. 1 overall seed. Pueblo South (17-6) is the No. 2 seed thanks in large part to a Feb. 10 victory over defending state champion Pueblo West.
D'Evelyn (Denver) (19-4) is the No. 3 seed, and Durango (20-3) is the No. 4 seed.
Here is a quick look at each of the four regions in 5A and 4A headed into Wednesday's first round, including a potential bracket-buster (a team seeded outside of the top 10) in each region:

Class 5A
Larry Farmer Region
Top Seed: 1. Eaglecrest
Potential Bracket-Buster: No. 17 Vista Ridge (Colorado Springs)
The case could be made that the Larry Farmer Region may be the toughest of the four. Top-seeded Eaglecrest lost to No. 8 Smoky Hill on Feb. 15, and ninth-seeded Denver East dropped a game to No. 16 Lakewood earlier this season.
But Vista Ridge (17-6) presents one of the more interesting cases in the region. The Wolves defeated the top two teams in their region a year ago in the 4A state tournament, and while the team's first go in 5A saw mixed results, Vista Ridge could be a tough out. Senior Hunter Maldonado averaged 24.1 points a game this season, and if he gets hot like he did in the 4A playoffs last winter, opposing teams will need to guard against the upset.
A potential Smoky Hill-East matchup in the Sweet 16 would be a big draw for all basketball fans.

Chauncey Billups Region
Top Seed: 2. ThunderRidge
Potential Bracket Buster: No. 15 Rampart (Colorado Springs)
This region features two of the three teams with the best records in 5A in ThunderRidge and No. 7 Chatfield (Littleton). The Chargers (22-1), a state semifinalist last season, have won 21 games in a row since falling by two points to Eaglecrest in December. The team's closest game since that time was an eight-point victory over No. 6 Doherty (Colorado Springs) back on Jan. 3.
Rampart won nine of its final 11 games, with both losses coming to Doherty by a combined seven points. The Rams were one of only two teams this season to defeat defending 4A champion Pueblo West, and the team took Grandview to overtime as well. Senior Jackson Ehrlin is averaging 21.1 points and 9.3 rebounds and junior Dawson Carper goes for 16.2 and 7.6.
Rampart would have a tough second-round opponent in No. 18 Cherokee Trail (Aurora), should the Cougars win their opener.

Guy Gibbs Region
Top Seed: 3. George Washington
Potential Bracket-Buster: No. 11 Fort Collins
George Washington may very well be the most dangerous squad in the 48-team bracket. The Patriots have only lost one in-state game all year (to ThunderRidge) and average more than 86 points a game. Three players average more than 15 points. No. 6 Doherty is no slouch though, riding a 14-game winning streak behind Brevin Brimble's 20.3 points a game.
While it may be a stretch to call a No. 11 seed with a 20-3 record a potential bracket-buster, the Lambkins could very well be just that. The team hasn't lost a game since December, and its three losses came by a combined 18 points (two of those losses were in overtime). Fort Collins features a balanced lineup (senior Jacob Pfaffinger leads the team at 14.2 points a game), and the Lambkins play solid defense. No one has scored more than 70 points on them since Regis Jesuit (Aurora) did it Dec. 22, which is a necessity in the region against teams like George Washington and Doherty that can score in bunches.

Mark Randall Region
Top Seed: 4. Grandview
Potential Bracket-Buster: No. 12 Overland (Aurora.)
With both Grandview and No. 5 Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch) in the region, it will be a tall task for anyone else to find a way into the semifinals. Save for an overtime loss to Highlands Ranch on Feb 10, Rock Canyon has been as hot as any team in the state. Junior Sam Masten averages 22.6 points a game, and the Jaguars are coming off a one-point victory over ThunderRidge last Friday.
But Overland has been a different team in the month of February. The defending state champs had to rebuild, but the lineup has come together with six consecutive victories. Three of those wins came over teams seeded higher than Overland in the postseason, including Grandview. The team hasn't allowed more than 61 points in any of those games.

Class 4A
Bob Ottewill Region
Top Seed: 1. Valor Christian
Potential Bracket-Buster: No. 32 Thomas Jefferson (Denver)
Valor Christian has been on a tear over the last month-plus, winning 11 consecutive games – four of which came over teams seeded No. 13 or higher. A potential Northridge (Greeley)-Mead (Longmont) Sweet 16 matchup would feature two teams that have combined for 39 victories this season.
While Thomas Jefferson has a few things working against it – namely, a possible second-round matchup against a Valor Christian team that beat the Spartans by 25 points earlier this season – there are plenty of things working in the team's favor as well. Playing in the loaded 5A/4A DPL, Thomas Jefferson defeated a pair of 5A playoff qualifiers down the stretch, and fell by only one point to 5A power Denver East. The Spartans finished third in the DPL, and senior Ravel Moody has been a force in his 12 games with the team in 2017.

Jim Baggot Region
Top Seed: 2. Pueblo South
Potential Bracket-Buster: No. 15 Vista PEAK Prep (Aurora)
The biggest storyline out of this region is the potential quarterfinal matchup between No. 2 Pueblo South and No. 7 Pueblo West. The South Central League rivals found their way into the same region (along with Pueblo East and Pueblo Centennial), and the defending state champions are sure to be motivated for a possible rematch.
Vista PEAK won 19 games during the regular season, and with a lineup that features four players who score in double figures, it isn't easy to stop any one player. The Bison have already matched up with two teams in the region seeded ahead of it, and while the team dropped both games, the loss to No. 10 Silver Creek was by only four points.

Richard Tate Region
Top Seed: 3. D'Evelyn
Potential Bracket-Buster: No. 14 Sand Creek (Colorado Springs)
The Richard Tate Region is loaded, with No. 6 Lewis-Palmer (Monument), No. 11 Sierra (Colorado Springs) and No. 14 Sand Creek all coming from the Monument/Colorado Springs area. D'Evelyn figures to have its hands full, and No. 19 Thompson Valley (Loveland) also owns a victory over the Jaguars.
Sand Creek (18-5) appears to have righted the ship after a brief rough patch in late January/early February. The Scorpions won their final four games of the regular season, including a victory over 5A Vista Ridge. D'shawn Schwartz, headed to CU in the fall, is one of the state's elite players and is a matchup problem for any team.

Bill Weimar Region
Top Seed: 4. Durango
Potential Bracket-Buster: No. 13 Evergreen
Durango would be hard-pressed to find a tougher road out of a region that includes No. 5 Holy Family (Broomfield), Jeffco powers Golden and Evergreen and a young Longmont team that is working to find its rhythm after the Trojans reached the semis a year ago. But the Demons are also a relative unknown to teams outside of the Western Slope.
Evergreen's three losses in 2017 have come to No. 1 Valor Christian twice (the last game a one-point affair) and No. 3 D'Evelyn. The Cougars (18-5) also defeated the Jaguars on Jan. 27 and took down No. 12 Golden twice in less than a month. Senior Michael Dillon is averaging 15.3 points and 8.2 rebounds.